Austin Mission Trip: Day 2

Today brought a morning of rest, some great devotional time, and then we were off to Zilker park for some fun and fellowship with strangers. After last night, I was really focusing on having some conversations--on just getting myself out there and letting God provide the rest.

And the great success of today is that I did have some conversations while we were in Zilker park. Talked with Danielle who is a believer, and whose friend was a baby ruth last year at the woods (her name is allison) and was hired for summer staff but cant do it because her parents told her she had to get an internship--and allison is thinking of doing the forge next year. So hopefully we'll get to talk to her at church tomorrow night, but it was great to see how God lead us into that conversation.

Another lady I talked to was named Bekah. We met bekah in line for the girls bathroom (I wasnt waiting for the women's restroom, mind you, I just met up when I came out of the guys). She is a non-believer, and was reading the books "meditation" and "happiness" so she is obviously searching for something. But she wasn't open to talking about the gospel--she said that everyone has their own beliefs that work for them. And then she proceeded to head out pretty quick.

One of the guys I talked to was just a weird situation. He was just kind of sitting off by himself, watching children play play. I went over to talk to him (at the insistence of B-rit), and proceeded to try and talk to him. But his answers were really short, and there just seemed something fishy about him. Finally, after I asked him if where he was from (he had already told me he was not from Austin), he said, "A long way from here," and then got up and just walked away. So again, no gospel presentation--but the more I think about it, the more I am glad I talked to that guy. Even though I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, this guy gave me the heebs, and I was just glad that he went away from where all the kids were playing. Not saying anything was going to happen, but you never know.

As I look back on today, I am happy yet still unsatisfied. It is good that I got out and started to engage strangers in conversation. Getting over that hump was a huge success, and one I know I can now relive on a regular basis. But I am eager to get over the next hump--sharing the gospel with a stranger. Hopefully the next few days will provide me that chance. Tomorrow morning we are going to church under the bridge, which is a church service performed for the homeless under the overpass of a bridge. I hear it's awesome. We are planning on just going and chatting it up with whomever we meet. Continue to pray for us. We've had two good days of witnessing, and we want it to continue. We want to see God do some great work through us before we leave Austin.

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you always."